I grinned. “Because it was romantic as fuck, and I don’t want you to copy me.”

He rolled his eyes and laughed into his drink. “At the Eiffel Tower.”

“Cliché.”

“I’m going to put the ring inside the Count of Monte Cristo. It’s one of her favorites, and I gave her a copy when she was a new prisoner at the camp. Meaningful to her for a lot of reasons. I thought she would open it, see the ring inside, and that would be it.”

I grinned at my brother. “Okay, that’s pretty romantic.”

He grinned back.

“She’ll say yes.”

“She won’t. Because I’m not going to ask.”

I nodded in approval. “Melanie loves that book too.”

“She does?” he asked in surprise.

I tried not to be offended because nothing would upset me on my wedding day. “She’s a lot smarter than you realize. And you also fail to realize that if it weren’t for her, none of this would have happened. She kept Raven alive. She reminded me who I was. Without her, we’d still be at the camp right now.”

He absorbed what I said, his gaze turning serious. He gave a subtle nod in agreement. “Mom would have loved her.”

“Yeah, she would have. And she would have loved Raven, too.”

With her arm through her sister’s, she glided toward me.

Like she had wings.

The gown was more expensive than my car, and she was the only woman who deserved to wear it. With her hair down, diamonds in her ears and around her neck, she was divine.

And she was mine.

Eyes locked on mine. Confidence in her spine. Love in her eyes. She walked slowly, but she was so eager to get to me.

Just as eager as I was to get to her.

They stopped in front of me, and Raven finally let her go.

Melanie was my responsibility now.

I took that responsibility seriously.

My arms circled her waist, and I pulled her into me, kissing her like no one was there. It was just the two of us, and she stepped into my office after she woke up. My lips took hers with a gentleness I’d never exhibited before, because my love had never been as deep as it was now. Deeper than the roots of the oldest tree.

She rested her forehead against mine, her hands on my arms, just a few inches shorter than me in those sky-high heels. A breeze moved through her hair, making it dance in the wind. Her eyes reflected the sunlight behind me, but they were brighter because they glowed entirely on their own.

The priest cleared his throat. “Shall we begin?”